N69bn water project in Zaria to be completed 2017– Commissioner

The multi-billion Naira water project in Zaria which has reached 90 per cent completion, will be completed in 2017, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Alhaji Suleiman Lere, has said.Lere made the disclosure on Thursday while addressing newsmen during an inspection tour of the site of the project in Zaria.

He said: “governor Nasir El-Rufa’i is set to break the jinx of the multi-billion Naira Zaria water project that will supply water to eight local government areas when completed next year.

“The gigantic water treatment plant will be completed in December this year while the entire project will be completed next year to end decades of suffering by Zaria residents over lack of potable water.

“An estimated sum of N69 billion is expected to be spent on the entire project covering Zaria and its environs.”

The commissioner pleaded with residents to cooperate with the contractors handling the project to ensure speedy completion.

He assured that there would be lot of improvements in supply of water before 2017.

“The water requirements currently for Zaria and its environs is about 100 million litres per day and what we have now on ground is 60 million litres.

“Even though, it is not operating at optimal capacity due to dilapidated nature of the old water works and the challenge of power, by the time this new ones come on board, we will have total capacity of 210 million litres a day.

“This will have the potential of not only supplying Zaria and Sabon Gari with water, but six additional local government areas,” he said.

Dr Henry Kiemeg, Project Manger, Gamji Nigeria Limited, the contractor handling part of the project, complained that some residents had illegally built on its “right of way.”

He said that as a result of this development, the ongoing laying of water pipelines in some areas had become a challenge. (NAN)